James Longman is ABC News’ chief international correspondent and has
been at ABC News as a foreign correspondent since 2017. Based in
London, Longman has reported from over 60 countries across all seven
continents, often at the forefront of the most important international
events of our time. He was in Moscow when Russian President Vladimir
Putin declared war on Ukraine, and spent time reporting from both the
Russian capital and Ukraine, documenting the Russian invasion as the
situation deteriorated day by day. He was one of the first reporters
to see firsthand the horrors in Bucha, and one of the first ABC
correspondents in Israel immediately following the Oct. 7 terror
attack. For the first two weeks of the war in Gaza, Longman
co-anchored ABC News Live’s coverage for which the team won an
Emmy®.

Longman is an integral part of ABC News’ royal coverage and helped
to lead ABC News’ standout reporting on the death and funeral of
Queen Elizabeth II and the subsequent coronation of King Charles.
Longman’s coverage of the Thai soccer team stuck in the rainforest
cave made him a household name in Thailand, leading him to secure an
exclusive interview with the boys once they were safe. Fluent in
Arabic and French, his ability with languages and knowledge of the
Middle East have also been an asset in covering the war in Syria,
where he was among the first journalists to witness the fall of
Baghouz, the last ISIS town, and the first to interview American ISIS
bride Hoda Muthana.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Longman was the first correspondent in
the Italian village where the virus was spreading, documenting its
transmission to 15 countries around the world and inspiring him to
front the documentary “Virus Hunters,” in partnership with
National Geographic. Other notable assignments include the fire at and
subsequent restoration of the Notre-Dame Cathedral of Paris,
earthquakes in Indonesia and Turkey, and volcanic eruptions in Iceland
and Spain. He has also covered the Olympic Games in Tokyo and Paris
and has even brought viewers to the remote waters of the Antarctic to
track humpback whales.

Longman has been recognized for his outstanding work, including Emmy
Awards for his contributions to network coverage of the climate crisis
and for his work in Israel and Ukraine. He was honored with a David
Bloom Award for his reporting on LGBTQ+ abuses in Chechnya and the
David Kaplan Overseas Press Club Award for his coverage of the ouster
of Syrian President Assad. Longman has also expanded his reporting to
examining the genetics of mental illness in a new book, “The
Inherited Mind,” which documents his family’s history of
schizophrenia and depression.
